How do you open door after a knock, how should you open the door after a knock..??

[Sourdough]

How do you safely open the door after the knock..??

 

[havasu]

Having a security screen, I simply open the door. Absent a security screen, I will ask who is knocking before opening the door. Keep in mind that I have a semi auto handgun at arm's reach just in case.

 

[The Lazy L]

I look out a side window to see if I recognize the vehicle. Then I look out the door peep hole to see if I recognize the knocker. If I don’t recognize either the I don’t answer the door.

We don’t keep our doors locked for our protection but for the protection of outsiders.

 

[Wingnut]

[Small viewing port in door opens, double-barreled 12-gauge shotgun bores appear] "STATE YO' BUSINESS!!!"

 

[Morgan101]

To answer the original question, we don't. We can see our front door through the side panel window. If it is somebody we don't know we will talk through the door, but never open it. We do have a glass storm door that is locked if we do decide to open the front door.

We always keep all of our doors and windows locked.

 

[SoJer]

How do you safely open the door after the knock..??

Your security cam can answer that question for ya.... (Riiight? jk, I know with your "local population of One, maybe Two", there's not much Need for a 'camera sys', but.. That said, they Sure are helpful / 'cheap insurance'...

IIRC, you do Not have a 'smart phone' (or, even 'tablet') Correct? Asking, because This little puppy: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZND334G ..is Really quite-good (for the money..)

..Got one to send to my Son, and trying it out Here, first - I was surprisingly-impressed. It 'tracks movement', Very well, Picture is Quite clear / 'Night Vision' is "good enough", Microphone (and, a 'PA-function') works really well for monitoring / Speaking To the 'knocker', etc. Don't Need wireless to access it (can just hardwire with Ethernet CAT-5 cable to yer router) and it does not Need 'cloud access' to Function (only to store Recordings, if you wish..)

..BUT - You Will need a 'smart phone' (again, or Tablet, of some sort) to use the App, that allows you to Monitor the vid-feed, so.. Not sure if that would, in the end, be of any help to ya..

That said, a Decent-quality 'old-school CCTV cam / CRT-monitor', all hardwired with coax-cable, is Easy, Cheap, and will give you that 'layer' of offsides-monitoring protection.. Personally, I'd never 'stand in Front of the door to investigate' (in the line of fire..) and find Some way to create a 'killbox', from offsides / high-up (preferably) etc.. And a PA-system / intercom of Some sort, is also invaluable, imo.

I would Never just simply 'Open the door after a knock', unless the knocker was 100% Known (Family, etc) and even Then, 'vetted' (that No one Else / some malevolent, was behind them with a pistol in their kidney, etc) by video. 'Vett 'em from Orbit.. It's the Only Way to be Sure'...

.02
jd

 

[Pearl]

We have locked gates and Buddy the announcer! No one is coming to the door!!

 

[Magus]

I have a piece of 3/4" safety chain, if they jerk the chain, I pull the 45.

 

[backlash]

I have very very few people knocking on the door, maybe 2 a year other than delivery people.
I can see anyone that walks up to the door through a big picture window.
My Ring camera notifies me if someone is near.
I also have a gun really close, in my hand if I don't know the person.

 

[Magus]

I keep one right at the door, a Vietcong machete if I get backed up for some reason.

 

[Caribou]

I pack inside. My hand is on the grip until I know who is on the other side.

 

[Wingnut]

I can still remember when traditional American families just left an unlocked screen door in place... oh, how the times have changed! Even in Coronado, it reached a point where we had to lock gates and doors, just to keep out wandering thieves & crackerheads. Now I'm back in a rural location where I could probably just leave my door unlocked, but home security has become a habit, not only from the Army but also from the Big City. Sad reflection upon what this country has become...

 

[Alaskajohn]

If I couldn't see out the door or a window to ascertain who was knocking to verify that I knew them, I would verbally ask who was at the door and for what purpose they were there for before opening. My cabin is like this where I have a solid door with no window to look out. My kids got me a Blink security camera where I could have visual on them as well before opening. In the 9 years I have lived here, I have never had any ever venture up the hill to get close to my door. If anyone ever did, my dog would go hog wild at the knock as this would be a first for him, assuming he didn't alert before the knock. The Blink camera alarm would give me an advance notice as well.

I would never open the door for any reason if I couldn't validate who and why to my satisfaction. A loaded 45/70 is placed next to the door as among other such items. But I would hate to have to put a hole in my pretty door if the knocker posed a threat to life and safety, as the 45/70 would make a mess of it.

 

[Dani]

They don't ever make it to the door. We have a farm gate, fully fenced and 4 dogs, a couple a intimidating.

 

[Haertig]

I quickly check the cameras. I see front, back and side views of people at the door. Usually I do not answer at all since I can tell it's nobody I am interesting in talking to. A survey taker, a salesman, etc. If I am surprised - like if I was just heading out the door for some errand and coincidentally someone was coming up to the door at the same time - I don't panic or anything. I am always armed. While my main door opens inwards, my security door opens outwards. That is deadbolted at night, but not 100% of the time during the day. But by the time someone could open that security door by pulling it towards them (without falling over the step down that is right behind them), I can have my gun drawn. Even from a bathrobe pocket if that happens to be what I'm wearing. Motion alerts from the cameras will normally notify us well before someone makes it to the door to surprise us, but sometimes we will have turned off those notifications temporarily - like when taking a nap - and forgot to re-enable them. But lots of different layers of protection and thinking about things ahead of time and firming up plans in your head keep you feeling pretty safe. At least it does in our case.

A note on security cameras: When you have cameras from the big guys - like Ring - those cameras must communicate over your WiFi, out the internet, up to their servers, their servers process the images, then send them back down to an app on your phone where you can view them and get a motion alert. The phone app takes a few seconds to connect to their servers. I don't know about other camera services, but Ring does not allow you to view live videos on your computer - only on a phone app. On the computer you can view historical video recording though. This app access to cameras can be quick, but it also can be slow. It is not something I would depend on for 100% of my camera needs. The alternative are cameras that are solely on your own home network, that don't need an internet connection at all. I have those too. Alerts from them, and video viewing, is near instantaneous. From my smartphone OR from my computer. Video image may be one or two seconds behind real time. For speed of accessing video and receiving alerts, nothing is going to beat running your own locally-hosted MQTT server (if that's the protocol your cameras use) and local streaming.

One problem for this alternate approach however, is if the computer-geek-guy (me!) gets run over by a truck, the rest of the family is going to be in a daze wondering how all this stuff works. So there is a plus side for things like Ring - you don't have to know what you're doing to use it. For that benefit, you have to pay for the service, and be willing to live with video access and alerting delays due to everything being up in the cloud. We have both setups here. So if I get run over by that truck, my wife doesn't have to worry about what-the-heck an MQTT server is or what an RTSP feed is ... the Ring half of our system will continue working without me.

 

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

I hope am not buck naked in the laundry room changing out of poop clothes when someone yells hello after coming in the open door. It's still pretty civilized out here.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

Anyone who knocks on our door has already climbed over a locked gate with signage saying NO TRESSPASSING and BEWARE OF THE DOG.
And made it the 150 feet from the gate to the house.

Anyone knocking on our door will be taken as a threat. I can go out the back door, shotgun in hand, slide around the side of the house, and get the proverbial "drop" on them.

Our two gates that front onto the road are kept locked shut 24/7/365 whether we are home or not.

 

[INresponse]

If you are not expecting someone don't answer the door. With smart phones everywhere not many people (you know) come over unannounced. But, to answer your question similar to the previous replies. Look out a nearby window, look through a peep hole, or just don't answer the door. There is nothing wrong with going out the back door well armed and surprising them from the side.
Where I live there are so few "door to door" people that the only ones knocking on the door are expected friends or the UPS/FedEx guy knocking when they drop a package on the stoop. Anyone else can leave and I wont be disappointed. If I wasn't expecting them I didn't need them.

 

[Weedygarden]

I don't answer the door usually, unless I know someone is coming over. For a long time I had a note on the door that said, "Did I know you were coming over? I don't answer the door unless I know you were coming over."
My doors are always locked. My front door has a big beveled glass window in it, so I can see who is there, if I want to, and there is a security metal door on the outside.

 

[Supervisor42]

I quickly check the cameras. I see front, back and side views of people at the door. Usually I do not answer at all since I can tell it's nobody I am interesting in talking to. A survey taker, a salesman, etc. If I am surprised - like if I was just heading out the door for some errand and coincidentally someone was coming up to the door at the same time - I don't panic or anything. I am always armed. While my main door opens inwards, my security door opens outwards. That is deadbolted at night, but not 100% of the time during the day. But by the time someone could open that security door by pulling it towards them (without falling over the step down that is right behind them), I can have my gun drawn. Even from a bathrobe pocket if that happens to be what I'm wearing. Motion alerts from the cameras will normally notify us well before someone makes it to the door to surprise us, but sometimes we will have turned off those notifications temporarily - like when taking a nap - and forgot to re-enable them. But lots of different layers of protection and thinking about things ahead of time and firming up plans in your head keep you feeling pretty safe. At least it does in our case.

A note on security cameras: When you have cameras from the big guys - like Ring - those cameras must communicate over your WiFi, out the internet, up to their servers, their servers process the images, then send them back down to an app on your phone where you can view them and get a motion alert. The phone app takes a few seconds to connect to their servers. I don't know about other camera services, but Ring does not allow you to view live videos on your computer - only on a phone app. On the computer you can view historical video recording though. This app access to cameras can be quick, but it also can be slow. It is not something I would depend on for 100% of my camera needs. The alternative are cameras that are solely on your own home network, that don't need an internet connection at all. I have those too. Alerts from them, and video viewing, is near instantaneous. From my smartphone OR from my computer. Video image may be one or two seconds behind real time. For speed of accessing video and receiving alerts, nothing is going to beat running your own locally-hosted MQTT server (if that's the protocol your cameras use) and local streaming.

One problem for this alternate approach however, is if the computer-geek-guy (me!) gets run over by a truck, the rest of the family is going to be in a daze wondering how all this stuff works. So there is a plus side for things like Ring - you don't have to know what you're doing to use it. For that benefit, you have to pay for the service, and be willing to live with video access and alerting delays due to everything being up in the cloud. We have both setups here. So if I get run over by that truck, my wife doesn't have to worry about what-the-heck an MQTT server is or what an RTSP feed is ... the Ring half of our system will continue working without me.

We have a low-tech device on our front door called "a window".
No WiFi or servers needed. I just look at the person before unlocking the door.
If the window gets broken, gunfire will result.
For all of the tech-savey people out there, if someone wants to do you harm, the first thing they will do is pull the power-meter on the side of your house plunging you into darkness.
See how well all of your stuff works during the next power outage.

 

[Morgan101]

My wife recently read that there is a device on the market now that will jam or disable the signal from a RING system. Has anyone else heard of this?

 

[Magus]

We have a low-tech device on our front door called "a window".
No WiFi or servers needed. I just look at the person before unlocking the door.
If the window gets broken, gunfire will result.
For all of the tech-savey people out there, if someone wants to do you harm, the first thing they will do is pull the power-meter on the side of your house plunging you into darkness.
See how well all of your stuff works during the next power outage.

My half million candle spotlight works just fine.
So does my Kitty kat.

 

[Haertig]

The problem with windows is that while you're checking them out, they are also checking you out. And they know exactly where you are. If you look out the window and see someone that doesn't appear dangerous, but is just not someone you particularly want to talk to (a dead giveaway of that is if they're holding a clipboard), it's at least a little bit rude to walk away from the door completely ignoring them after they've seen you. I envision people getting pissed off that that kind of intentional and obvious shunning, and keying your car as they walk away down your driveway.

I have this irrational fear of peepholes. I figure as soon as I look out one, the person on the other side will notice it darken from my shadow, and shoot their gun straight into it. That would be the end of me.

Cameras just work better for me given my concerns above.

 

[Magus]

The Russian mafia likes to stab peepholes with screwdrivers and ice picks.

 

[sonya123]

I can still remember when traditional American families just left an unlocked screen door in place...

Yeah, that's us...lol, nothing is looked, only screen doors in summer ( no ac)
But I have a 90 lb German Shepherd that puts his paws on the windowsill right next to the door and barks his head off, along with a smaller but mean looking mutt
We hear anyone coming up our road before we see them ( dogs in the pasture below us will bark first)
Our neighbors don't steal things , and strangers come up the road very slowly and are mostly lost

 

[sonya123]

The Russian mafia likes to stab peepholes with screwdrivers and ice picks.

What sort of people do you have coming to your house????
You guys all are either very paranoid, or live in very bad neighborhoods..
Even in Orlando I generally opened the door if someone came over after looking who it was through the little widow in our door ( not peephole but actual small window
I was more worried there than here obviously
But if someone comes up here with a vehicle in the dark late, I get the shotgun ready
So far that has only happened once , it was the people that dropped off the dead deer they shot at our barn by mistake. They never made it to our house, they turned around at the barn below
( I hope I don't jinx myself by saying all this, now we'll probably have a home invasion by some crazy next....)

 

[Biggkidd]

With a .45 in hand considering you passed a locked gate 2 miles before you got here. People don't knock on my door! The last person who tried to knock was camping next door and had the laser on said .45 light up her chest long before she got to the door.

 

[Mountain trapper]

We have never had strangers come to our house.
We have a locked gate down at the county road and two electric gates, ran by solar, on our driveway. I give keys to the locked gate and the gate code to people we know.

 

[Weedygarden]

We have a low-tech device on our front door called "a window".
No WiFi or servers needed. I just look at the person before unlocking the door.
If the window gets broken, gunfire will result.
For all of the tech-savey people out there, if someone wants to do you harm, the first thing they will do is pull the power-meter on the side of your house plunging you into darkness.
See how well all of your stuff works during the next power outage.

Yes, they can and will shut off the power to disable whatever they think needs to be disabled. I have a padlock on mine, so they would have to remove that first. It can be done! I've seen it happen that people can and will remove padlocks if they want to have access somewhere. For a while, I had a security system in my home, but it was controlled by batteries.

 

[Haertig]

What sort of people do you have coming to your house????
You guys all are either very paranoid, or live in very bad neighborhoods..

I've never been in an auto accident, but I wear a seatbelt every time I get into a car. I must be paranoid.

I have a tourniquet in my first aid kit. I have never had to apply one, not even when I was a paramedic on an ambulance for 15+ years.

If the first time something happens can kill you, you probably should try to be be ready for that first time.